Judge rules caged girl won't have to testify at parents' trials

GLOUCESTER — A girl found in a modified cage won't have to testify at her parents' trial on abuse charges in March, a judge ruled on Monday in Gloucester County Circuit Court.

The girl, now 8 and living with an adoptive family outside of Gloucester, was discovered naked, emaciated and covered in her own feces while living in a modified cage in April 2011. Her parents, Brian and Shannon Gore, face felony charges of aggravated malicious wounding and child abuse.

At Monday's hearing, the attorney retained by Shannon Gore, Ron Smith, sought to have the girl appear in court for trial so that a jury could determine how the girl is doing. Commonwealth's Attorney Holly Smith is alleging the girl suffered long-term injuries affecting her motor skill and emotional development as a result of her forced confinement over the course of months or even years.

Ron Smith said jurors will be provided photos of the girl that are "really bad" and that's what the jury will be left with in determining the girl's present condition and outlook.

Circuit Judge R. Bruce Long asked Ron Smith why medical evidence of doctors won't be sufficient for a jury to make a determination. Ron Smith replied that he's not insensitive to the situation.

"I don't want to do this," Ron Smith said, "but I just can't take the word of the doctors."

Holly Smith said putting the child on the witness stand is akin to making the courtroom a circus show at Coney Island where you see the freaks and wonders of humanity.

"I cannot even wrap my head around what kind of a reaction this girl would have when she sees these two," Holly Smith said, referring to Brian and Shannon Gore, who were both in court in shackles and Norfolk City Jail-issue clothes.

Brian Decker, a Gloucester attorney who has been appointed to represent the girl, also opposed having the girl testify. The girl has a "very fragile state of mind," he wrote in court documents.

After getting to know the girl over the past 21 months, Decker wrote that he can "confidently say that putting this child on display for a courtroom full of strangers...would cause increased stress, inconvenience and future psychological harm upon this child."

Long ruled that the girl won't have to testify.

Tim Clancy, the court-appointed attorney for Brian Gore, said he and Ron Smith also want to speak with the girl's adoptive mother to get a sense of how the girl is doing. That request was also opposed by Holly Smith on the grounds the woman is "hyper-vigilant" about protecting the girl's identity as well as her family's.

Long asked Holly Smith to speak with the girl's adoptive mother and see if she would consent to a conference call with the Gores' attorneys.

"I'm not going to order her to talk to anybody," Long said.

Clancy and Ron Smith also asked for a current photograph of the girl to present to a jury that would show her condition.

"What she looks like today would erase this bad period in her life," Ron Smith said.

Long ordered photos of the front of the girl, including her face, and a side view to be taken and kept under seal.

"We'll address whether we can use it at a later day," Long said.

Brian and Shannon Gore will be tried together beginning March 5. The court has summoned 175 prospective jurors for the trials that are expected to last four days.

Long also heard a request by Clancy and Ron Smith to move the trial out of Gloucester due to pre-trial publicity. Long said his normal procedure is to attempt to seat a jury and he decided to defer a decision until "we see how it goes."